With this year’s incredible rally in bitcoin’s valuation driving it into mainstream global financial conversation, many established economic figures were called on to share their thoughts on the cryptocurrency. While some admitted that they don’t understand it well enough to comment, others called it a scam, a bubble or both. According to billionaire investor Michael Novogratz, this attitude might just be due to their age rather than their wisdom.

Could the real reason why JP Morgan’s chief executive officer Jamie Dimon (born 1956) called bitcoin a “fraud” be age-related? In a recent interview with Bloomberg TV (see video below) the hedge fund mogul Mike Novogratz raised an interesting point regarding some skeptics of bitcoin. He suggested that it is their old age that might be playing a factor in their judgment of the new technological and economic phenomenon.

Novogratz tried tried to explain his position that bitcoin is a solution to people’s mistrust in governments’ and central banks’ handling of their finances, giving the recent examples of Zimbabwe and Venezuela, but the hosts didn’t seem to buy it.

Asked about the recent Tether wallet hack and its implications for bitcoin, Novogratz explained to the hosts that they have to keep this in the right perspective: just $30 million compared to the market cap of the entire crypto ecosystem ($250 billion).

The hosts exposed their own lack of familiarity with the digital world when they asked their guest if he invested in any ICOs and he told them about a venture to decentralize the video game assets market and they seemed shocked to learn such an industry even existed. Bloomberg’s key takeaway from the interview is that Novogratz expects the BTC/USD exchange rate to reach $10,000 by the end of the year.

Who is Novo?

Born in 1964, Novogratz is best known in the financial world for his roles at Goldman Sachs and as the former head of Fortress Investment Group. He made the headlines around the cryptosphere mainly due to his decision to invest $500 million in bitcoin and ethereum as well as other cryptocurrencies and ICO tokens with his Galaxy Digital Assets Fund. A former Princeton Wrestling captain and helicopter pilot in the US National Guard, Novo doesn’t seem to fear a fight with his old buddies on Wall Street.

Do you think Wall Street is just full of dinosaurs waiting around for the bitcoin meteor? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!